Gozo Hospital health care service falls short of public’s needs – PD

Partit Demokratiku has said that the public are certainly “not being adequately served” by the hospitals takeover deal. “The Vitals Deal has proven to be a bad deal, because it is against public interests.”

In a statement PD said that Partit Demokratiku was always against the “incredible consent of OPM Castille to the complete takeover of the services provided by three of our five public hospitals.”

According to Dr Anthony Buttigieg, “we are still in for a bumpy ride. The way Gozo General Hospital is run and is delivering a health care service falls short of public’s needs.”

“Healthcare personnel at this hospital are at a loss who to turn to. Is it the Ministry or Steward Healthcare? They cannot make heads or tails,” he added.

PD MEP candidate Dr Anthony Buttigieg said, “there is more to this than meets the eye..” Asking, “who is accountable for the mess?”

PD also noted that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health Dr Chris Fearne “has always distanced himself from the OPM-Vitals deal, to the extent that he renegotiated a fresh understanding with Stewart Healthcare when the latter took over from Vitals.”

“No matter how strong a nation’s economy is, free health care provision may be a bottomless pit if caution is not guaranteed. This Public Private Partnership does not give us reassurance,” stated ex-Minister of Health and PD Party Leader Dr Godfrey Farrugia. “A National Health Care System Strategy has to be addressed by robust projections,” he added.

PD went on to say, “the public purse has been depleted without the promised results being realised. Our legislative framework is proving to be permeable when it comes to enforcing transparency and accountable measures.”

It concluded by saying that PD is of the opinion that “our politics needs to be fired-up by honourable intentions, if any legal framework we opt to have in place is to serve its purpose.”